1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a protective cover, namely a backpack cover, which may either be incorporated in any existing piece of luggage or pack; or may be a carried as a luggage accessory to ensure protection of the luggage item and/or its contents from being exposed to nature""s elements.
2. Background of the Invention
The use of luggage items, primarily backpacks, is known in the prior art. Traditionally, backpacks and other transportable baggage have been made primarily of water-resistant material such as polythene to protect the pack and its contents from water, wind, dirt and other natural elements. The water-resistant luggage items have allowed users to not only store and protect various items without being exposed to natural elements, but to also maintain a guarded sense of privacy. Other conventional backpacks have included luggage products that are generally manufactured using perishable materials (such as leather) where the durability of the pack depends on the amount of weather exposure. Although these luggage items tend to be more aesthetically pleasing to a general user, the items tend to have a higher rate of deterioration when exposed to any natural element.
Backpacks and other luggage items have recently evolved to incorporate devices with audio components. An example of such a backpack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,152 to Trevino issued on Apr. 25, 1995 depicting a Backpack Assembly with Audio Components. Specifically, the backpack assembly holds audio components within a plurality of pockets formed interiorly of the pack. One of the plurality of pockets is sized to hold a speaker therein and a second of the plurality of pockets is sized to hold a radio therein.
However, due to changing educational policies throughout the United States, many school districts have enacted programs where backpacks must be see-through to ensure increased school security. The result has been to enforce rules that require backpacks to be made with materials that permit clear visibility of the inside contents of the backpack. To enable compliance with the new policies and fulfill this new market, several manufacturers are now producing backpacks that are either made of clear material or of net- or mesh type material.
Specifically, the net-type backpack is made of material having holes uniformly dispersed on the front and sides of the backpack itself. Although this particular material has solved the security requirement mandated by the school districts, an elemental exposure problem has arisen. For example, on a day of rain, all contents (including electronics) contained inside the backpack are subject to rainwater. Likewise, on a day of strong winds, backpack contents are subject to dust and dirt. Therefore, the net-type backpack has introduced elemental exposure and increased deterioration to a luggage item and its contents.
Conventionally constructed luggage and the ""152 backpack do not normally pose an exposure problem, but they do not conform to the new security policies and their use has been eliminated in many circumstances. Further, similar to the conventional luggage items, the ""152 backpack assembly fails to provide for an incorporated protective cover such as a backpack cover contained within the luggage item itself. Thus, when nature""s elements (such as rain, snow, sun, wind or dirt) come into contact with the backpack, the material of the backpack may be damaged. Further, radios, speakers, tape players, CD players and any other type of device installed in the backpack may also be damaged or destroyed by exposure. Also, depending on the type of material used for the luggage, the useful life of the material may be shortened due to weather exposure and deterioration.
In view of the above described deficiencies associated with the use of more recently designed luggage items, and especially backpacks that are constructed from weather permeable materials, the present invention has been developed to alleviate these drawbacks and enhance the utility of these and more conventionally designed luggage pieces. These enhancements and benefits are described in greater detail hereinbelow with respect to several alternative embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention in its several disclosed embodiments alleviates the drawbacks described above with respect to conventionally designed luggage and incorporates several additional beneficial features.
A standard luggage item, namely a backpack, is generally constructed with a non-transparent, durable material allowing items to be stored and carried while maintaining privacy. However, a more current luggage item is being manufactured to conform to newly enacted educational policies regarding increased security measures at various school districts. As a result, the evolved luggage item is primarily being offered in two forms: as a clear backpack; or as a backpack made of mesh-or net-type material.
The present invention is a cover designed to protect existing luggage items including backpacks, but finds special utility when incorporated on these newer exposing luggage types. The protective cover is preferably made of plastic or other weatherproof material in order to act as a shield for all luggage items. In particular, the protective cover is preferably incorporated within a luggage item. When the weather becomes unfavorable or when protection for a luggage item is necessitated, the protective cover of the present invention is then pulled from the luggage item and placed thereover. After the cover is properly positioned, the user may tighten the perimeter of the cover by pulling on drawstrings incorporated within the cover. As a result, luggage contents, and the luggage piece itself are protected from exposure to natural elements without compromising security standards when in school where the cover is not needed.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention incorporates the protective cover into the construction of an existing luggage item itself, especially the net-type backpack where exposing backpack contents to natural elements is desirably eliminated. The cover may be attached to either the inside of a compartment or to the bottom, front, top or side portions of the net-type backpack by utilizing various fastening mechanisms such as stitching, gluing or other adaptable means. When time for use arises, the protector is pulled out of the compartment or other storage area and placed over the luggage item. Here, the incorporation of the protective cover inside a compartment of a luggage item thereby relieves a user with an increasingly busy lifestyle from having to carry a separate protective means and protect the luggage item without hindering the user""s mobility . An advantage of this invention is to protect the contents of the net-type backpack from weather exposure while also permitting conformance with security standards. As an additional benefit, the longevity and durability of a piece of luggage is increased because of the protection afforded the luggage item itself from weather exposure when under cover.
An alternative embodiment discloses the protective cover as an independent and separate luggage accessory, especially for pre-sold luggage items that are already used by the general public. Here, the luggage protector may be carried apart from the luggage item itself. It is contemplated that when the weather is unfavorable, the user simply fetches the luggage protector and positions the protector around the luggage item.
The luggage protector of the present invention is capable of being incorporated into any existing luggage item, namely a backpack, in order to conform to existing designs of such luggage items. Further, the protective cover does not require special technology for its production and is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide a universal weather-resistant protective cover regardless of the size, material or use (such as recreational or professional) of the luggage item in order to protect the luggage and its contents from being exposed to the elements such as rain, snow, dirt, etc.